…comes around, and on Friday friends came around for lunch, bringing a nice bottle of wine and a pretty posy of flowers from their garden – so far, so to be expected. Apart from the sedum, though, all the flowers were picked from plants grown from seed or cuttings, provided by me! Blooms of salvias ‘Amistad’ and ‘Neon’ from cuttings, Cosmos ‘Click Cranberries’ and Limonium (statice) ‘Purple Attraction’ from sowings this year, self-seeded Cosmos ‘Fizzy Rose Picotee’ from last year, and viper’s bugloss (echium) which must have self-seeded from whenever, all passed onto my friends to encourage their gardening habit and reduce the number of spare seedlings going onto my compost heap: definitely a win-win situation!
Seeing the same blooms that I have in my garden grown somewhere else made me very aware of how different conditions can affect their growth, as these varieties of cosmos have not produced such large flowers in my garden this year, nor have they had the same pronounced ruffle and neither has the limonium had such dense sprays – but they have still done well enough and are varieties I will grow again, and pass spare seedlings around!
Sunday when I normally prepare my vase and write my post was a day of continual rain here (as in much of the UK), so my gifted posy is standing in for a Vase on Monday, photographed in artificial light on top of our log-burner effect gas fire with a mini ‘baby book’ of circles as a prop. Having not experienced a full 24 hours of rain here for many many months it has been a novelty, albeit a wet one that prevented any useful gardening tasks, but in accentuating the contrasts between hard and soft in the garden and between splashes of different colours, especially the predominant greens and yellows of foliage, it had its upsides too.
If you can manage to get out in your gardens to find blooms or other plant material to create a vase of your own then feel free to share it with us on IAVOM by adding the usual links; alternatively improvise in whatever way you can if the weather is unkind! Having a posy of flowers to meditate on in the midst of our busy lives can be so restorative and Ali the Mindful Gardener describes these benefits brilliantly in her recent post ‘Be Still, Life’, so do go and read it if you have not already done so.
Things may be a little quiet on Rambling in the Garden in the next couple of weeks or so but I will be dipping in when I can; all well, just busy.
Rambling in the Garden 
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How wonderful, what a thoughtful gift. It must be so satisfying … the ripples in the gardening pond. I’m glad I did my rather rushed arrangement last Tuesday when it was so gloriously sunny we ate lunch wearing just T-shirts outside. https://daffodilwild.wordpress.com/2018/10/15/in-a-flat-lay-on-monday/
Ripples in the gardening pond…I like that idea, Sandra, and increasingly I recognise the value of empowering others, in whatever context. Yes, the weather is a very definite change and it is perhaps as well I am busy with other things just now otherwise I would be a very frustrated gardener! But I am certainly not complaining about the rain – it is as it is and the garden will lap it up anyway
Love the peachy colour of that cosmos. Very pretty indeed, especially with the sedum. I enjoyed collecting material for my vase this Monday – but not from the usual places! https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2018/10/a-colonsay-vase-on-monday.html
Colonsay – how exciting! You can just about see the island from my Mum’s house đŸ˜‰
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What a lovely gift and evidence/recognition of your gardening generosity!
Here’s mine, rather ‘brooding’ this week! Perhaps it was the weather…
Have a great week.
Yes, and it was the fact that the bearers picked them knowing their connection with me that was especially touching. I think our gardens are doing a lot of brooding whilst the weather is as wet as it is đŸ™‚
Sharing is a wonderful thing, and you are a garden evangelist! I notice the ’rounds’ around your vase too. Gardening circles…….IAVOM is an encouraging one to be sure. Here is my contributions this week: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2018/10/in-vase-on-monday-salvaged-flotsam.html
Oh yes, the vase! I hadn’t twigged, so it wasn’t delibetaye, but I see now that it should have been… đŸ˜‰
Beautiful vase today, Cathy. Of necessity I have to be brief this morning but hope to return later. In the meantime, here’s my link today: https://silverscrappers.blogspot.com/2018/10/in-vase-on-monday-something-completely.html
Thanks Elizabeth – hope your busy day went as well it could đŸ˜‰
Hi again Cathy, all went well today, hubby is doing just fine. Had to return though to say how lovely it must have been to see how well your seedlings and cuttings had done for your friends. Also, thought you might like to know that prompted by how well my cosmos ‘Candy Stripe’ have done this year I’ve ordered ‘Cupcake White’ and ‘Lemonade’ seeds from Thompson & Morgan. Oh, and last week you mentioned that you thought my husband had something to do with the success of our roses – he certainly does! He’s the one that prunes them – on the day of the Boat Race each year – and he feeds them too. Me, I deadhead and cut them for the house. We’re such a team đŸ™‚
Thanks for taking the time to come back and report, Elizabeth. Good to know that all is well with your husband – and that he does indeed have a magic touch with the roses! I am going to look at new varieties of cosmos too, shorter ones this time, as well as CC and FPP
What a lovely concept for a vase. Wonderful to have good friends to share with. Thanks for referring us to Ali’s post, well worth a few minutes.
Thanks Susie – Ali always writes so wonderfully and I thought of IAVOM when I read her post so it seemed fair to link to it
Every flower is precious and lovely at this time of year. So glad you are getting some rain. I love rainy days. Gives me a legitimate excuse to hunker down on the sofa with a good book or a nap.
I have been trying not to champ at the bit to get on with ghe jobs I want to do in the garden though, Cindy! I have enjoyed looking out at the wetness though, knowing how much everything will benefit
Brilliant, and how lovely of your friend to do that for you. Gardeners are generous people, don’t you think. I look upon it as an insurance policy too, as if your plant fails you can beg for a bit back, đŸ™‚ When I give things to my Mum, she always grows them better than me, it’s frustrating. x
Here is my link today. https://ablogaboutcompost.blogspot.com/2018/10/purples-and-blue.html
Thanks Alison – the first time I gave these friends some amaranthus seedlings theirs grew into massive plants whereas mine only made it to a few inches tall (they have done much better since, I am happy to say!)
What a sweet and beautiful gift! That is very interesting that you got to observe how they grow differently in a different environment. Those cosmos seem to have an unusual, almost “antique” coloring to them–very pretty!
My vase this week…http://heirloomcottagegarden.weebly.com/blog/in-a-vase-on-monday-a-flower-for-all-seasons
Perhaps the ‘antique’ colouring was due to relatively poor light when I photographed the vase, Joanna!
I like the deepening colors for the seasonal change and the flowers, a lovely tribute to the grower! My garden is dry as a bone, I need to go out and water newly planted perennials right now. Here is my vase http://theshrubqueen.com/2018/10/15/in-a-vase-on-monday-mostly-wildflowers/
Yes, and the sedum blooms always herald the onset of autumn as far as I am concerned. UK gardens are definitely no longer dry!! Hope you don’t now need prolonged periods of watering in yours
Here the Goldenrain trees pods just turned red, that is my sign of fall. Still 85 degrees unfortunately. Just out watering the cursed Dahlias!
A special gift and the circle of garden giving is complete. Perfect prop for this delightful surprise arrangement. My vase is here: https://outlawgarden.blogspot.com/2018/10/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-october-2018.html
It was a good illustration of this, Peter, I agree,
What a nice hostess gift that is! I wish Salvia ‘Amistad’ liked my garden – I’ve killed it the requisite 3 times but I may yet try it again in another spot. Thanks for hosting despite your busy schedule, Cathy. My post this week is a Bloom Day/IAVOM mash-up: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2018/10/another-bloom-dayin-vase-on-monday-mash.html
It is indeed Kris. I have not managed to overwinter Amistad yet, but will mulch the plants I have grown from cuttings this year and see if that helps. I wouldn’t miss out on hosting, Kris, unless there was an emergency of some sort, as it means so much to me and to many others too
How interesting that your shared seedlings performed so differently in your friends’ garden. Not necessarily unexpected, but fascinating, nonetheless. Cosmos are such wonderful cut flowers–one of my favorites for vases–with pert profiles and long vase life. As always, thanks for hosting!
https://plantpostings.blogspot.com/2018/10/colorful-october-vases.html
Indeed Beth, and now that it is damper my own cosmos are even more prolific than before
Oh such a thoughtful gift from your visitors Cathy. It must have been fun for you to compare and contrast. I’ve noticed that plants I’ve passed on invariably do better with the recipients than they do for me. I think that the worst of our weather was on Friday with gales and rain all day and then things slowly improved over the weekend. Yesterday started wet but then it cleared to give way to a cool but dry and sunny afternoon so there was a chance to get out đŸ™‚ My vase this week is here :
https://greentapestry.blogspot.com/2018/10/gbbdiavom-foxy-lady.html
It was, and I think their bringing of home grown flowers has been triggered by my passalongs in the last few years, which I am all for, of course. It has continued wet here today, not heavy but very damp, but I wouldn’t have had the oportunity for any gardening anyway. Glad you managed to get out yourself though
Your influence on gardeners manifests in many ways. How satisfying to have your largesse return to you this way.
Oh I don’t see it as influence, rickii, and I am sure I have received as many gifts from gardeners (especially blogging friends) as I have given myself đŸ˜‰
Cathy your detachment and selfless help to other gardeners giving them seeds and plant plants, now you can see their magnificent and beautiful results thanks to the gift of the friends to whom you gave the flowers. The Cosmos are my favorite, because of their shape, their color and their beauty. It is curious how the same seedlings grow different in different places: the substrate, the orientation, the microclimate of each place, and many more factors will intervene in this change. But all the flowers are beautiful, each in its own way. Have a very good week. Greetings from Margarita.
I have been on the receiving end of many gifts from gardeners too, Margarita, especially blogging friends who seem to be especially generous
Life is indeed a circle. How lovely to share seeds and plants. Your cosmos are glorious and lasting a long time Cathy. All’s well here after the storm. Things are settling down somewhat. Thankfully. https://bramblegarden.com/2018/10/15/in-a-vase-on-monday-8/
It is indeed, and I am glad things are settling down for you
Thank you Cathy. Enjoy your Sunday xx
Goodness, Monday already, and autumn for some of us; but that has not stopped your cosmos yet. That is pretty sweet. I just got here, so I must see what everyone else posted.
Lovely how you have shared your treasures around. I have bought Salvia ‘Black and Bloom’ this year which is similar to Amistad but is supposed to be hardier. We will see. But they are so easy from cuttings that it doesn’t matter really.
Ah, that is interesting about B&B as I bought some as plug plants but it was not clear if they were being sold as annuals or perennials. Mine are still in pots so I shall bring them in and plant them out next year. Thanks for that
Hello Cathy. I think it is lovely that you received flowers from seeds, seedlings and cuttings you gave to friends! Double the pleasure of having grown them! I really missed growing annuals – especially cosmos – this year, but it was probably just as well with our dry summer. Good to see them in your vase so late in the season. Oh and I wish your rain would come our way! Hope it has cleared up for you now anyway. đŸ™‚
Yes, double the pleasure indeed! Great gardening weather here now, but no time to garden! Hope you have had some rain now
your cosmos and vase look beautiful as usual. I didn’t grow anything from seed this year – it’s all been a bit full on here (but in a good way) I’ve still got plenty of flowers here in unseasonably warm Manchester (except when storms come over). I’ve been so busy this week I forgot to add my link before so here it is:
I hope you’re having a good, if busy time too – lots love Bec xx
Thanks Bec, good to know you still have plenty of blooms too
Hi Cathy, I like it when friends bring me flowers or plants, it always makes me smile. Just read Ali’s beautiful post. I feel absolutely the same and I need to do something creative –be it arranging flowers, making a wreath, taking pics– to stay sane in this crazy world. I hope all is well with you and the Golfer and that you’re busy in a good way. Wishing you both happy autumn days xx
Yes, I agree, and I am feeling the absence of it at the moment – didn’t even manage a ramble round the garden today which is a rarity. Normal life will be resumed quite soon though! Best wishes to both of you and I hope your book is progressing well